The Ceilidh Trail - Blue Diamond Tours

Day Four – The Ceilidh Trail (Kay-Lee) July 8th
The word ceilidh pronounced kay lee is the Gallic work for party or gathering. We
loaded up the blue tour van with our luggage after a hearty continental breakfast.
We left Halifax on a sunny morning
heading past the Naval Yard on highway
102 to the highway 118 bypass to Truro.
You could hear the steady hum of the
tires on the pavement as we left the
comfortable scenery of Halifax. Bob had
his eyes fixed steady on the road ahead,
his hands with a comfortable grip on the
steering wheel. We were heading towards Truro and the excitement of meeting the
folks at the Colchester Historical Society. Tummies full, wide awake – Let the
adventure begin.
Stewiacke River
Country Scenery
At Truro we arrived at the Museum and the first thing we notice on the door is
CLOSED. It’s a bright and sunny morning and the sign says closed on Sundays, so yes
it’s closed. Bob says “I guess I should have phoned ahead, but we’ll visit on the way
back”. We were slightly disappointed, but this will give us a bit more time in Antigonish
which is our next stop. The Museum and Archives did have a nice garden out front.
Truro (Wikipedia) is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the
south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at the eastern end
of Cobequid Bay. The Mi'kmaq name for the Truro area, "Wagobagitik" meaning "end
of the water's flow", was shortened by Acadian settlers to "Cobequid" who arrived in the
area in the early 1700s and by 1727 had established a small village near the present
downtown site of Truro known as "Vil Bois Brule" (Village in the burnt wood). Many
Acadians in this region left in the Acadian Exodus which preceded the Expulsion of the
Acadians in 1755, the town was resettled in 1761 by Presbyterians of predominantly
Ulster Scottish origin who came from Ireland via New England.
The scenery had incredible blue sky and white puffy clouds
The next official stop was Antigonish. Antigonish (Wikipedia) is St.
Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous highland games in North America.
The name Antigonish is of Mi'kmaq origin. The original definition has been lost as the
Mi'kmaq language has undergone many revisions over the last two centuries. The first
European settlement took place in 1784 when Colonel Timothy Hierlihy received a large
land grant surrounding Antigonish Harbor. Hierlihy and his party founded the Dorchester
settlement, named for Sir Guy Carleton, who was Governor General of Canada and
subsequently Lord Dorchester. St. Francis Xavier University was established in
Antigonish in 1855, having been founded in 1853 in Arichat, Cape Breton and originally
called the College of East Bay after East Bay, Nova Scotia where an earlier institution
had once existed (1824–1829). St.F.X. was originally a Catholic seminary and was
granted full university powers in 1866 by an act of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
Sheri’s many Great Grandfather was Timothy Hierlihy. We were both filled with
anticipation of finding some genealogical secrets of the ancient relation. As we pulled
into the vacant parking lot at the Antigonish Museum we came to the realization that on
a Sunday in Nova Scotia most places are not open. “I guess we should have phoned
ahead”. We will return in a few days for another adventure and unexpected find.
Halifax to Antigonish
The next part adventure is to the Canso Causeway and the Ceilidh Trail to Baddeck.
We stopped at the Aulds Cove Motel for
lunch which was at the entrance of the causeway.
We both had fish and chips for lunch. We were on
holidays and figured that vitamin c – chips and
vitamin f – fish should be good for us. The
restaurant had incredible cove views out the front
and side windows that competed with coordination
to turn your head in awe at the scenery and trying
to eat chips without biting your fingers. After we
ate I went outside to take a few pictures.
As I was leaving I heard a splash in the distance – Pilot Whales at the Causeway.
The Canso Causeway (Cabhsair Chanso in Gaelic) (Wikipedia) is a 1,385 m rock-fill
causeway. The causeway crosses the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island
by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. It carries two vehicle traffic lanes Nova Scotia
Highway 104 on the mainland side, and Nova Scotia Highway 105 on the Cape Breton
side, as well as the single track mainline of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia
Railway. Cape Breton Island remains a true island as a result of the 24 m and 570 m
long Canso Canal, which is located at the eastern end of the causeway to allow ship
traffic to transit the Strait of Canso. The 94 m Canso Canal Bridge is a swing bridge
which carries the road and railway line across the canal. The word "Canso" is believed
to be derived from the Mi'kmaq word kamsok, which means "opposite the lofty cliffs."
Ceilidh Trail Scenery
Canada’s only single malt whiskey – Cape Breton’s Jewel – Glennora Distillery
Glennora Distillery Gardens
The Ceilidh Trail to Margaree Harbor
Margaree Harbor is a warm place to swim! The beach is located just beyond the
village. Great scenery awaits you – sand dunes with clumps of grass are just part of the
picture before you. The scenery above and below indicate the beauty of the village.
From Margaree Harbor we hit the
Chabot Trail to Baddeck on the Bras
d’Or Lake. The scenery was quite
nice but nothing like what we would
experience tomorrow.
The clouds had the most amazing textures that made you want to touch them.
Baddeck (Wikipedia) became a tourist destination with the 1874 publication of
Baddeck, And That Sort of Thing, a travel story written by Charles Dudley Warner.
Tourism grew even more following the construction of the Cabot Trail in 1932, with
Baddeck being situated at the start and end of the loop. While the village population is
just over 2,000 people, local hotels feature over 600 rooms. Baddeck is home to the
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, which houses a museum commemorating
the work of former resident Alexander Graham Bell.
Our room was at the Baddeck Inverary Resort on the shores of Bras d’Or Lake a
salt/fresh water body of water. In the summer of 1886 Alexander Graham Bell made his
home at Red Head, a peninsula opposite Baddeck. His 640 Acre estate is names Beinn
Bhreagh ("ben vreeah" meaning "Beautiful Mountain" in Gaelic) where he lived half of
his life until his death in 1922. Bell’s laboratory used the Bras d'Or Lake to test mancarrying kites, airplanes and hydrofoil boats.
We had supper that evening at the Lakeside Restaurant. The dinner started with
seven of the tenderest shrimp in a lemon butter served on a maple plank. We never
knew shrimp could taste that yummy and melt in your mouth light. The main course
was a fresh tuna filet served on a bed of rice with fresh picked vegetables. It would be
hard to prepare tuna any better. Lastly we sinned with a chocolate cake with chocolate
pudding with chocolate drizzle with chocolate crunch on top. We also sampled a bottle
of Nova Scotia Jost red wine. After dinner we walked through the gardens on the resort
to enjoy the beauty and settle our feast. To complete the evening we walked to an onsite Pup that offered live entertainment – a one man band that sang a variety of Cape
Breton folk songs. The music entertained us as much as to group of ladies that sat at
the table beside us. They carried on for an hour on time zones and how they should
work, and why they could not order a meal at the pub because the kitchen was closed
but in Calgary it was only 6:00 pm and time zones are stupid.......……. We each had a
couple of cocktails then retired for the evening in our comfortable room at the resort.
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